Local leaders work together to impact gun violence

If National Rifle Association leaders and the "guns don't kill people, people kill people" segment of society spent a restless Monday night frantic over the implications of the expected report from the White House on how to address gun violence in this country, Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones and San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore weren't losing any sleep.

If National Rifle Association leaders and the "guns don't kill people, people kill people" segment of society spent a restless Monday night frantic over the implications of the expected report from the White House on how to address gun violence in this country, Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones and San Joaquin County Sheriff Steve Moore weren't losing any sleep.

Both are waiting with less than bated breath to see what comes from a call for action in the wake of December's horrific assault-gun murder of 20 children and six educators in a Newtown, Conn., elementary school.

There are a number of reasons for the subdued local response.

They, like the rest of us, know that unless it involves immediately taking money out of your paychecks, the results of any actual action taken by Congress, if and when the current Congress deigns to take action, has no immediate impact.

If and when Washington musters the courage to act on the gut-wrenching impact of seeing babies slaughtered on school grounds. Jones and Moore aren't holding their breath on this one. Jones doesn't even have a wish list of changes he'd like Washington to address.

If he had been invited to one of Vice President Joe Biden's fact-seeking meetings, though, Moore said he'd recommend "a fully inclusive approach to the problem."

"We do have a problem with gun violence," Moore said, "but it's not just guns. It's mental health and other things. I would counsel that group to take a good overall look at things and come up with a balanced strategy that addresses all the issues, not just one."

The local law enforcement leaders can dispassionately watch the proceedings from afar, because this community, and California, dealt with the fallout of a school shooting tragedy 20 years ago.

In the wake of five children being killed at Stockton's Cleveland School in 1989, California began passing the nation's stiffest gun control laws in the 1990s.

Assault weapons and high volume magazines, two items expected to be addressed in Biden's report to the president, have long been banned in this state. A database of all guns and their owners is in place, and any gun, whether purchased in a shop on West Lane or at a gun show in a convention center, is subject to the same registration requirements. There are no "loopholes" in California law.

Should the federal government choose to respond to the Sandy Hook Elementary School killings as California reacted to the Cleveland tragedy, California could still be a beneficiary, though.

"There are a lot of guns here, illegal guns," Jones said of Stockton. "They're procured out of the country or out of the state. A lot of folks are getting them in Nevada. There would be some potential impact if it weren't so easy to get them in neighboring states."

Jones and his law enforcement brethren can't sit by and wait for stiffer gun laws in Nevada or Arizona, or for Congress to use that extra money being taken out of our paychecks to enact stiffer gun laws.

Stockton Police Department's Community Response Team and Operation Ceasefire and, in conjunction with the Sheriff's Department, the County Gang Task Force and Firearm Reduction Consortium, are targeting high crime areas and gang members, who were the driving force behind a record 71 homicides in 2012. Having a greater presence in those neighborhoods has already paid dividends, Jones said. Residents say they feel safer.

Whether real or perceived, Stockton always has had a reputation for crime, Jones said. From its days as a port city for the gold miners of the 1850s, through the rise of gangs and drug use in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, Stockton has been plagued with crime. Gang membership, illicit drug use, poverty and lack of education are the leading culprits.

Faced with the very real problem of a seemingly growing band of brazen criminals, the Stockton Police Department is aggressively working to get in front of the problem. Jones admits the department became reactive to crime, rather than proactive in preventing it, when funding reduced its staff around 2010. Faced with the economic realities of a smaller staff, it is working to balance its approach once again.

It's a dreadfully difficult scenario, but we're fortunate to live in a community where law enforcement agencies work together to fight crime rather than fight petty jurisdiction battles. Jones and Moore sat down together to talk about the scourge of gun violence on Monday afternoon in a conference room of the police department. They understand we're all in this together.

The public needs to understand that, too. Tips from residents, both Jones and Moore say, are as valuable as any patrol on the street.

Use the anonymous tip line. Report suspicious activity. Get guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals.

The city and county held a gun buy-back program in 2010, funded by the St. Joseph's Foundation. It took in 142 guns, Moore said. Funding for another buy-back has to come from an organization or corporation willing to put up the money. In Southern California, Ralph's, a large grocer, funded a gun buy-back last month. Are you aware of that, Save Mart?

In the last year, law enforcement officers took 932 illegal guns off the street, but there are more.

Taking all of them away isn't the sheriff's goal.

"The concern is that if the federal laws get tighter, the state laws will get tougher," Moore said. "Many are concerned that people can't defend their home, defend their families, defend themselves. I don't support disarming the public. I think that's inappropriate. I think they need to be able to exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms and protect hearth and home."

Frankly, I don't see new federal laws resulting in a game of one-upmanship. California put in place its laws in response to the horror of innocent school children murdered on a playground. If Washington officials finally determine it's politically safe for them to do likewise, Californians should be happy to welcome them to the club.

In anticipation of the White House announcement, the rest of the country, including those still grieving in Connecticut, anxiously awaited news of proposed legislation to ban the high-powered weapons that took so many lives. We, however, could join Jones and Moore in resting easy knowing that while we haven't successfully kept all that weaponry off the streets and out of the hands of criminals, we live in a state where we've said it's not OK for anyone to have that firepower.